Hello, friends. Welcome back to the blog. Today I’ll be yappin about the Rocket’s Mewtwo deck from the brand new Pokémon TCG expansion, Destined Rivals. This deck is based around Rocket’s Mewto EX and Rocket’s Spidops. With some of the most broken supporters in the game, this deck has some serious potential.
Pokemon
Rocket’s Mewtwo EX- This huge basic Pokémon with 280 HP comes with some limitations. First of all, its ability, Powersaver, states that unless you have 4 or more Rockets Pokémon in play, Mewtwo cannot attack. There are ways to circumvent this limitation that I’ll cover later. Another limitation that Mewtwo has is the fact that its attack, Erasure Ball, costs 3 energy and states You may discard up to 2 Energy from your Benched Pokémon. This attack does 60 more damage for each card you discarded in this way. This attack tops out at 280, which is enough to OHKO most of the format, but not the most popular Stage 2 EX decks. My way to get around this is the ACE SPEC, Maximum Belt. This tool allows my Mewtwo to deal an extra 50 damage to my opponents' EX Pokémon. Choosing this as my ACE SPEC means that I cannot pick Prime Catcher or Secret Box, but it does allow me to maintain the prize trade against those Stage 2 decks.
Rocket’s Spidops- This non-rulebox stage 1 Pokémon is the perfect pair for Mewtwo. Spidops' ability, Charging Up, states that once during your turn, you may attach a Basic Energy card from your discard pile to this Pokémon. This means that once you get your basic energy in the discard pile, your double Spidops can help Mewtwo deal 280 damage. With its grass typing, and the rising popularity of Marnie’s Grimsnarl (everyones gonna play that fuckin deck) Spidops’ attack with a full bench will easily KO that dark type goblin, and Charizard EX.
Rocket’s Mimikyu- This little depressed Pikachu wannabe is one of my favorite little guys. I love a free retreat, little guy. Mimikyu also has an incredibly useful attack. Gemstone Play lets you choose 1 of your opponent's Active Tera Pokémon's attacks and use it as this attack. The double energy cost may seem hard to set up in one turn, but this deck has many tricks. Team Rocket’s Energy states: This card can only be attached to a Team Rocket Pokémon. If this card is attached to anything other than a Team Rocket Pokémon, discard this card.
As long as this card is attached to a Pokémon, it provides 2 in any combination of [Psychic] Energy and [Dark] Energy. This means that in one attachment, you can set up your Mimikyu and use it to copy Dragapult EX’s Phantom Dive, which is one of the best attacks in the game. You may also set up your Mewtwo for one Rocket energy and one basic energy.
Items
There is one item in this deck that is disgustingly broken.
Team Rocket’s Tranceiver- Search your deck for a Supporter card that has "Team Rocket" in its name, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. THIS IS DISGUSTING!!! This item is so good it just lets me pick which broken ass supporter I want (going over the supporters soon)
Team Rocket’s Great Ball- Flip a coin. If heads, search your deck for an Evolution Team Rocket's Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. If tails, search your deck for a Basic Team Rocket's Pokémon, reveal it, and put it into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. This card is fine. It’s nothing very special, and I’m thinking of how many I want to cut out of my list right now because I never really flip what I want, and I already play 4 Ultra Ball.
Supporters
This is where the deck shines. These supporters are INSANE.
Team Rocket’s Proton- If you go first, you may use this card during your first turn.
Search your deck for up to 3 Basic Team Rocket's Pokémon, reveal them, and put them into your hand. Then, shuffle your deck. Many of you should know that supporter cards are typically not allowed on your first turn, unless you’re chad as fuck and play tranceiver for proton to fill your bench with spiders. This deck wants to go first and find this card to be able to swing with Mewtwo on turn 2.
Team Rocket’s Ariana- Draw cards until you have 5 cards in your hand. If all of your Pokémon in play are Team Rocket's Pokémon, draw cards until you have 8 cards in your hand instead. Best draw supporter in the fuckin gaaaaaame. So good. Drawing until 8 is insane, and if you find one of the Team Rocket’s Factory Stadiums, you can draw 2 more because you played that Rocket Supporter. DRAW TIL 10!??!!??!?!?!?!?!
Team Rocket’s Archer- You can use this card only if any of your Team Rocket's Pokémon were Knocked Out during your opponent's last turn. Each player shuffles their hand into their deck. Then, you draw 5 cards, and your opponent draws 3 cards. Insanely good hand disruption. Pretty much just Unfair Stamp, but Opp gets +1 card. If my opponents take ANY early KOs, they are getting their hand bucked.
Team Rocket’s Giovanni- Switch your Active Team Rocket's Pokémon with 1 of your Benched Team Rocket's Pokémon. If you do, switch in 1 of your opponent's Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot. Yet another supporter, ACE SPEC. This card is just Prime Catcher. This card is also why I bench Mimikyu even when I’m not against any Tera Pokemon, Pivot is very, very good.
General Gameplan
Always go first. We must go first & find either Proton or Tranceiver for Proton. Once we fill our bench (Preferably 2 Spiders and Mimikyu), we must find energy to attach to Mewtwo, and we must get basic energy in our discard pile to combo with Spidops. Once we have some energy discarded and spiders on our bench, we have a bit of flexibility. Depending on the matchup, we can either use Spidops to attack, or just go straight in with the Mewtwo (provided we have the necessary energy and basics benched).
Tourney
Typically, when new sets come out, you have to wait 2 weeks until the new cards are legal. Thankfully, my local game store, M&M Games Clearwater, decided to make Destined Rivals legal for their Tuesday night locals tournament. I will now be sharing how the 3 round tournament went.
Round 1- Joltik Box
Joltik box pretty much just wants to either set up Iron Hands, or Pikachu to get their 2 prize KOs. I went first and hit the full combo, filling my bench, and attaching Rocket energy to my Mewtwo EX. My opponent used Joltik’s attack Jolting Charge to set up 4 energy on their Iron Hands EX. I proceeded to play Rocket’s Giovanni to push my Mewtwo into the active, and bring their fully set-up Iron Hands to the active. I then nuked the thing for 280 and the first 2 prize cards. My opponent then conceded after not being able to muster up a return KO. (My Mewtwo had 330 hp from a Bravery Charm, so Pikachu couldn't KO LOL)
Round 2- Rocket’s Wheezing
Super easy matchup. Even though opponent hits for weakness, they could never get their board setup enough to get a KO. I just attacked with spiders the whole game, and they never really had a chance (Once again hit the turn 1 combo but didn’t set up a Mewtwo this time)
Round 3- Ethan’s Typhlosion
This matchup can get kinda outta hand for me. Since they can hit 280 without very much difficulty, I want to lean into the spiders. To KO their Typhlosion with a spider, I need a full bench, which isn’t the easiest to chain for 6 KOs. Luckily for me, my opponent had a slow start, and I had all the Giovannis I needed to kill their Quilavas whenever they were out. Once they got a Typhlosion up, I had already taken 3 prize cards, and I wouldn’t ever bench enough 2 prize Pokémon for them to win. Easy 3-0.
Overall, I was very happy with how the deck performed during this 3-round practice tournament. I won 4 prize packs for my performance, and sadly didn’t pull anything good. Hope you all have enjoyed my blog, and let me know what your favorite Rocket’s card is in the chat.
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